Recapping Week 10 in the NCHC.
After a short winter break, college hockey is back in action. While the NCHC teams hit the ice last weekend, they all were playing non-conference games. Miami University was the only team to not have any games.
The World Juniors team includes six players from NCHC teams, with the University of Minnesota Duluth leading the charge with five of their players skating for their country last weekend.
SCSU 12-2-3 (1) vs PU 6-7-3
The Huskies traveled to Princeton, New Jersey to face the Princeton University Tigers. They ended the weekend with their second and third ties in their last four games.
The Huskies had been cruising through their schedule, but after a sweep at the hands of Denver, and their recent ties to North Dakota and Princeton, they have slowed down a bit.
Friday, they got off to a sluggish start. While they did score the first goal of the game, Princeton scored three unanswered goals, starting in the first period, spilling into the second and third.
The Huskies came back and scored two power-play goals from Blake Winiecki and Jimmy Schuldt in the last 10 minutes of the game, sending the game into overtime.
The Huskies absolutely dominated the overtime period, not allowing a shot and taking 14 themselves, but were not able to find the back of the net and the game ended in a tie, 3-3.
Saturday’s matchup didn’t see a goal until almost seven minutes into the second period courtesy of a Judd Peterson goal for SCSU.
The Tigers scored at the end of the second period to tie the game, then struck again 30 seconds into the third period to take a 2-1 lead.
A power play goal would power the Huskies into yet another overtime. Neither team could muster a goal on the seven shots combined and the game ended in a 2-2 tie.
The Huskies have a date with in-state rival, University of Minnesota this weekend in a home and home series. They have not lost to the Gopher since 2014.
DU 11-5-4 (4)
Denver welcomed both Merrimack College and Air Force to Magness Arena last weekend, coming away with a disappointing split.
Merrimack came into Friday’s contest winners of only four games on the season. They were able to slow down the high-powered Pioneer offense, no easy feat.
The Warriors struck first with a goal less than three minutes into the first period. Kohen Olischefski tied the game for the Pioneers late in the first.
With the score still being tied 1-1, Brett Seney took it upon himself to put the team on his back. He scored two goals for the Warriors in 44 seconds giving MC a lead they would not surrender. DU scored a late empty net goal, but the Pioneers fell, 2-3.
Denver took their frustrations out of Air Force the next night. They won the game 6-0, with all six goals scored by six different players. They took 46 shots to Air Force’s 18. 10 Pioneers recorded at least one point.
It was a chippy game, Air Force committed 13 penalties and allowed an astounding 11 power play opportunities for Denver.
Denver travels to Oxford, Ohio this weekend for a series with Miami University. The Pioneers went 2-0-2 against the RedHawks last season, and the two teams have yet to face each other this season.
UND 10-5-5 (6)
The Fighting Hawks did not play a series last weekend. Instead, they had their yearly exhibition against the USA Under-18 team.
UND took an early 3-0 lead after goals from Cole Smith, Austin Poganski and Matt Kiersted in the first period, and coasted to a 5-2 victory.
The Fighting Hawks let their opponents take only one shot in the second and third period combined, although that one shot was a goal in the second period.
North Dakota hosts the University of Nebraska Omaha this weekend. UND is 3-2-1 against them at Ralph Engelstad Arena in the last three seasons.
WMU 11-8-1 (12) vs BGSU 8-6-6
Western Michigan University and Bowling Green University were the only two teams in action last Thursday in both teams return from break in a one game series.
The Broncos came out of the break on a mission. They scored four first period goals, which was all they would need in their 5-2 drubbing of BGSU.
Wade Allison tallied his 15th goal of the season for the Broncos while Austin Rueschhoff scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season. The only goals WMU surrendered were from power plays.
There were a combined 19 penalties in the game, with a combined 15 power plays, a third of which resulted in goals.
The Broncos have this weekend off and will return the following weekend to face St. Cloud State.
UMD 9-9-3 (16)
For missing five players due to the World Juniors tournament last weekend, the Bulldogs played exceptionally well.
UMD took it to Yale Friday. In their 5-0 victory, Blake Young picked up the slack of their missing teammates scoring two goals.
The Bulldogs were lethal on the power play scoring on three of their four opportunities. Their penalty kill was equally impressive holding Yale scoreless all four times they were down a skater.
Saturday they squared off against the Dartmouth College Big Green. Dartmouth scored in the first minute of the period to take a 1-0 lead, but the Bulldogs scored in the last minute of the period to tie the game at 1-1.
In the second period, the teams swapped goals, scoring within three minutes of each other.
The 2-2 tie would end up being the final score with a winner not being able to be determined in the extra period.
The goalies shined for each team. Duluth’s Hunter Shepard stopped 41 shots and Devin Buffalo saved 39 shots for Dartmouth.
Duluth has this weekend off and will return to action against Colorado College next week.
UNO 9-8-1 (18) vs UC 10-9-1
UNO jumped up into the rankings after an impressive sweep of Union College which saw them score 10 goals last weekend.
The Mavericks scored three goals in the first period Friday and never looked back. They added two more in the second on their way to an easy 5-1 victory.
UNO’s defense was stout. They let the Dutchmen take only 19 shots on net, and didn’t allow more than seven shots in a period.
Saturday saw Union get out to a lead when they netted a goal with five seconds to go in the first period on a power play.
In the second, the Mavericks got to work. they scored two power play goals, then two even strength goals to take a 4-1 lead.
A power play and extra attacker goal from Union cut the lead to two goals, but David Pope scored his 11th goal of the season on an empty net to seal the game for the Mavericks in their 5-3 win.
The Mavericks travel to North Dakota to face UND this weekend. They have held their own at Ralph Engelstad Arena with a 2-3-1 record there in the last three years.
CC 9-8-3
The Tigers played the opposite schedule of their in-state rivers Denver University last weekend, and like DU, earned a split.
Friday, the Tigers fell on their face in the first period. They let in three goals in their first five minutes of the game. That set the tone for the night.
A Tiger goal late in the first period cut the Air Force lead to 3-1.
Air Force quickly answered back in the second period scoring just 13 seconds into the period. The Tigers scored two more goals of their own, including Mason Bergh’s 11th of the season, but less than two minutes later Air Force scored putting them back up by two again at 5-3.
Air Force added another goal in the third period and won 6-3
Like their game against Denver, Air Force was down a skater many times. They surrendered a goal on the seven power-play opportunities they gave the Tigers.
Saturday was a closer affair. The Tigers penalty kill came up big holding Merrimack College on all six of their power-play chances.
Nick Halloran scored his 11th goal of the season in the second period to give the Tigers the lead. MC answered halfway through the final frame to tie the game at 1-1. With just over a minute left, Tanner Ockey scored for the Tigers giving them a 2-1 win.
The Tigers, like a few other NCHC teams, have this weekend off. They will rest up and prepare for their matchup in Colorado Springs next weekend against UMD.
Points Leaders:
1. Wade Allison WMU 28 2. Nick Halloran CC 27
3. Henrik Borgström DU 26
